American Spectator Editor Has Thoughts on Weiner

There’s no way to write “weiner” or “Weiner” without it sounding dirty. Turns out it’s difficult to even discuss former ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) without at least one penis joke popping into the conversation.

Such was the case last night at the launch of the new conservative media outlet, Rare, at the Newseum where American Spectator founder Editor-in-Chief Bob Tyrrell was mingling and toasting his longtime friend and Editor-in-Chief Brett Decker (both pictured at right). Asked if he was worried about Rare digging in his readership, he remarked, “I’m not nervous about much of anything, especially after a glass of wine.”

The longtime conservative Washington editor reasoned, “Financially we’re a lot stronger than the liberal media. Rare is starting out, I think it looks very promising.” Tyrrell joked about the Washington Post constantly changing it’s bottom line. And what about TWT‘s ongoing financial issues? “They’re still coming out everyday,” he replied.

Turns out Tyrrell is quite the talker after a little vino. We’re not suggesting he was inebriated, just that he was ready to let his hair down a little and dish, especially on the recent NYT Magazine story about Weiner. Asked to name the rarest thing about himself, Tyrrell hemmed and hawed and struggled to come up with an answer. Instead he said, “Answering this question assumes that I’m a narcissist. You want a narcissist? Ask Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer. Weiner? Hell, he’ll even send you a picture!”

Asked if he’d read the lengthy weekend magazine story on Weiner, Tyrrell said that there have been a shocking threeNYT stories on Weiner in recent days, including a piece by Frank Bruni. “I found it soporific,” he said of the magazine feature (which means it induced drowsiness, much like a narcotic). “He’s interested in you women, so how you feel about him matters.”

And then, the penis joke. “I hope he keeps it up,” Tyrrell said of Weiner talking and possibly running for Mayor of New York. Tyrrell’s wife, Jean, standing by his side, laughed and said, “Yes, and I think you should say it that way.”

Finally, Tyrrell had a question for me. “What paper are you with?” I told him, FishbowlDC. “I wish you were with the Washington Post,” he replied. How come? “Because I insulted the Washington Post!”

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